Development

There is a Mac version in development as well. With development being led by the creative team at Maxis, the Mac version of SimCity will feature the same deep, rich gameplay that will define the PC experience as players on both platforms compete or collaborate to create a new world, together. [reference]

“Whether you owned a Macintosh or a DOS PC, we all have memories of laying down zones and reticulating splines from our youth,” said Lucy Bradshaw, Senior Vice President and General Manager of EA’s Maxis Label.

“To the millions of SimCity fans out there, we’ve been listening and can proudly say that your calls have been answered. SimCity has a long legacy on the Mac and the team at Maxis is ensuring that it will be the deepest, richest and most accessible SimCity game yet.”

The multiplayer has also been designed from the ground up. SimCity lead producer Kip Katsarelis earlier said that the PC market isn’t dead and it’s still viable. [reference]

“We’re still seeing the PC market is not dead, it’s very much alive. Blizzard’s shown quite a bit of success with their recent Diablo launch, The Sims is highly successful, so there’s a market there, we’ve got an audience there that wants games on that platform, and we are still a PC house and will continue to be so,” he said.

Gameplay

You can create immersive 3D worlds and tactile interactions give you the power to shape the city you envision. Customize buildings to unlock additional functionality and offer additional gameplay benefits. Experiment and place buildings in different locations and watch how it affects your city.

You can also play with new enhanced design tools like curvy roads and zoning to create the city you always wanted. Complete missions to unlock better buildings and create the most impressive city in your region.

A single region will have up to 16 cities. Couple this with the game’s multi-city capabilities, and you’re looking at a pretty wide playing experience with other gamers across the globe. Of course, you can also manipulate all 16 cities by yourself. Maxis has also released a new screenshot showcasing the regional play’s user interface. [reference]

Sandbox Mode:

Described as “a gentler version of SimCity”, you can select a new region and automatically start with a bunch of Simoleons. You can add more with a simple key press, along with toggling certain “push back” systems on and off. What this means is you won’t have random disasters randomly wrecking your shit when you’re not looking. [reference]

You won’t be benefiting from the competitive aspects of the title. So no achievements, challenge participation, leaderboard rankings or affecting prices of goods on the global market.

Story

After a 10 year break, a mainline SimCity is back in an all new title developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. Gone is the isometric view and instead comes a lavish fully 3D world designed to look like your very own model city, free to do as you please. Not only that but the world of SimCity is brought online for the first time, giving players the opportunity to work with each other (or against) to build the cities of their dreams.

And then destroy them…

Multiplayer

SimCity will feature an extensive online component, according to the lead director of the game. In fact, it’s built from ground up so there will be very few issues with it. The game comes out next year, but is already shaping up to be something special. [reference]

“We really thought about this SimCity as multiplayer from the ground up. Cities are no longer in a bubble. You can play in a region with other cities, and there’s a lot simulation that’s going on between cities. You can play multiple cities or invite friends into your region and play with others,” he told during a Q&A after the game’s livestream finished.

“Things like power and water are shared across cities and you can purchase that power. You can share services like fire, education and garbage. You can also gift to one another, so money and resources you can create in your city, and you can also collaborate on great works.

“We have things like international airports that you can work on together and build up, and the airports will actually bring tourists into your region and allow you to ship more freight in and out. There’s just a lot more to do at this macro level of city planning.”

There were two betas held for the game and were successful too.

Controversy

SimCity developers recently faced the wrath of Reddit in an AMA, where they were asked about the DRM that was included in the game. Reddit members completely rejected the game citing DRM and mentioned that the developers should remove it if they want any sales. [reference]

The developers have responded and since it’s a directive from the publisher to include DRM and other things, their hands are tied, but here’s what they had to say.

Maxis’ Lucy Bradshaw mentioned that there’s a lot of cloud computing required to power SimCity so the DRM was required. They said that, “It’s not something your individual PC will be able to handle on its own, not when the cloud servers are handling up to 100,000 Sims inside each city.”

There was another controversy where beta testers were threatened to be banned if not being constructive. [reference]

EA has mentioned that candidates have to take their jobs seriously instead of just wasting time. I can understand what they are trying to say here but threatening them with a ban is going too far. I’m not trying to create controversy for controversy’s sake but here’s what’s written in their TOS.

“If you know about a Bug or have heard about a Bug and fail to report the Bug to EA, we reserve the right to treat you no differently from someone who abuses the Bug. You acknowledge that EA reserve the right to lock anyone caught abusing a Bug out of all EA products.”

EA later said that this was just a warning and they won’t take such action on people.